no troops had left that city. It was,
therefore, certain that the garrison of Saumur could receive no
assistance from that quarter.

Breakfast was eaten, and the army then formed up in its divisions.
Mass was celebrated, and it then set out for Saumur.

In that town all was confusion and dismay. The newly arrived
generals were strangers alike to the town, its defences, and the
troops they were to command. In front of the works defending Saumur
ran the river Dives, which fell into the Loire, a mile or so below
the town. It was crossed by a bridge; but so great was the
confusion that, in spite of the representations of the civil
authorities, no steps were taken either to cut or guard it.

It was not until three o'clock in the afternoon that the Vendeans
approached the town, and General Menou sent two battalions of the
line, one of volunteers, and eighty horse, under the orders of
General Berthier, to take possession of a chateau in front of the
position. Two hundred and fifty men were posted in a convent near
it. Santerre commanded the force which was to defend the
intrenchments at Nantilly, and Coustard the troops who occupied the
heights of Bourlan.

At four o'clock the skirmishers on both sides were hotly engaged.
The Vendeans advanced in three columns--the central one against the
post occupied by Berthier, the left against Nantilly, and the right
threatened to turn the position at Beaulieu.

Berthier allowed the force advancing against him to approach within
a short distance of the chateau, and then poured a storm of grape
into it, from a battery that he had established. Lescure, who was
in command, was badly wounded. The head of the column fell into
confusion, and Berthier at once attacked them, with his two
regiments of the line, and for a time pressed the column back. His
little body of cavalry, whom he had ordered to charge, fell back as
soon as the Vendeans opened fire upon them; and the latter then
attacked the line battalions, with such fury that Berthier was
obliged to call up his regiment of volunteers. Cathelineau sent
reinforcements to his troops, and these pressed on so hotly that
Berthier, who had had a horse shot under him, was obliged to fall
back; and the exulting Vendeans rushed forward and carried the
faubourg of Fenet.

Dommaigne, with his cavalry, charged the cuirassiers and the German
Legion. There was a sharp fight. Dommaigne was killed, and the
colonel of the German Legion desperately w